Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Domonic Brown went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI and Ryan Howard added a solo shot as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised by the Miami Marlins, 7-2, in the opener of a four-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Chase Utley and Erik Kratz added one RBI apiece for the Phillies, winners in four of their last six games.

Kyle Kendrick (3-1) gave up two runs on seven hits while striking out five over seven frames to earn his ninth straight win over the Marlins.

"I struggled the first couple innings, but as the game went on I felt better," Kendrick said. "My secondary pitches were a lot better later in the game. I battled tonight and got a nice win."

Alex Sanabia (2-4) surrendered four runs -- two earned -- on six hits over five innings.

Justin Ruggiano had a solo homer for the Marlins, who have dropped 10 of their last 13 meetings with the Phillies.

"We had some opportunities, but we weren't able to punch the runs across. We have to capitalize on our opportunities when we have them," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said.

Miami led 1-0 after the first inning. Juan Pierre walked then moved to second on Donovan Solano's base hit to center. Pierre then stole third to put runners on the corners. Placido Polanco grounded into a double play, but it was enough to get Pierre across.

Brown tied the game with his solo homer in the second, and Howard's opposite field blast in the fourth put the Phillies up 2-1.

"I made a mistake with a pitch I left over the plate. (Howard) did what he does best and hit out," Sanibia said.

The Phillies pushed a pair of runs across in the fifth inning to stretch their lead to 4-1. With runners on the corners and one out, Utley delivered a towering sacrifice fly to right field. Michael Young singled to put runners on the corners once again, and Sanabia's change-up in the dirt skipped past Marlins catcher Rob Brantly allowing Jimmy Rollins to score.

Ruggiano crushed a homer to dead center in the sixth to make it a two-run game, but the Phillies plated three runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

After Tom Koehler issued a pair of walks to open the eighth, Brown laced a base hit to left field to score Howard. Laynce Nix then came around on Koehler's wild pitch and Kratz capped the scoring with a base hit to left to score Brown.

Game Notes

Kendrick improved to 11-2 all-time against the Marlins ... The Phillies are 10-0 this season when leading after eight innings ... Pierre picked up his 600th career stolen base ... Earlier on Thursday, Miami reinstated infielder Adeiny Hechavarria from the 15-day disabled list and selected the contract of outfielder Matt Diaz from Triple-A New Orleans. To make room on the roster, infielder Nick Green was designated for assignment and pitcher Brad Hand was optioned to New Orleans. Hechavarria went 1-for-4 with a triple.